Dr. Lorcan Martin:

Absolutely. While it will have an impact on burnout, recruitment and retention, the primary concerns we have around the Bill relate to patients getting the treatment that they require. I know I am harping on it a little bit, but they have to be the focus of everything. As Deputy Hourigan rightly points out, burnout is an incredibly complex thing. I do not know anybody in the health service, who is doing their job properly, who does not experience some amount of burnout. It is to do with demand exceeding supply, under-resourcing and people not being available. When someone goes on maternity leave, they are not replaced. When someone retires, it takes three or four years before the post is permanently filled again. The list goes on as to why burnout might happen. However, the inability to treat one's patients is going to have a significant impact on people. If patients are not able to get the treatment they need it will cause problems in society at large and cause stress for families. That will result in more people sitting and waiting in emergency departments and more people homeless or in prisons. Then there is going to be the added level of frustration on the part of the doctors who want to treat these patients and find they are unable to do so. In terms of burnout, the proposed Bill is only one component, but it is a very important one. What I do not want is that people see our objections to the Bill as being about burnout, recruitment or retention. They are certainly issues, but the biggest focus in all of this has to be the patient.